Describe the core characteristic of a 'verbal noun' (gerund) in Polish, and give an example of how it changes the meaning of a verb when used in a sentence.

The core characteristic of a 'verbal noun' (gerund) in Polish is that it is a noun derived from a verb, retaining some of the verb's properties such as aspect and the ability to take objects or be modified by adverbs, while functioning grammatically as a noun. A verbal noun names an action or process, transforming the verb into something that can be the subject, object, or complement in a sentence. For example, consider the verb 'czytać' (to read). The verbal noun derived from it is 'czytanie' (reading). In the sentence 'Czytanie książek jest moim hobby' (Reading books is my hobby), 'czytanie' functions as the subject of the sentence. The shift from verb to noun changes the focus from the act of reading itself (czytać) to the activity of reading (czytanie) as a general concept. It's no longer about performing the action but about the action being a thing or concept. It can also take an object as in 'Czytanie książek po polsku jest trudne' (Reading books in Polish is difficult); here 'książek' is the object of the verbal noun, showing the verbal noun retains that verb-like property.